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Mild hybrids use a small energy-storage system that can recover braking energy quickly and software that reuses it just as quickly to keep the internal-combustion engine working efficiently to meet Europe’s 95 g/km CO2 goal.

PARIS – Speakers at a hybrid-powertrain conference here say 70% of new cars in Europe in 2020 will need electrification to meet the European Union’s goal of 95 g/km of carbon-dioxide emissions.

To meet goals expected for 2030, every car will require electrification and will need to lose 30% of their mass, a top Renault engineer says.

Low-cost mild-hybridization is the principal subject at the ICE Powertrain Electrification & Energy Recovery conference sponsored by the French auto engineer organization SIA. Industry experts say mild hybrids use a small energy-storage system that can recover braking energy quickly, and software that reuses it just as quickly to keep the internal-combustion engine working efficiently.

French supplier Valeo is using supercapacitors to store energy in its prototype low-cost hybrid system, while other vehicles are being developed for 48V lithium-ion batteries. AVL, the Austrian engine developer, is working with a battery group to develop a 48V lead-acid battery.

“The long-term vision in Europe is to reduce the use of conventional fuel by a factor of three in 2030 and by a factor of 10 in 2050,” says Philippe Doublet, in charge of CO2 emissions strategy at Renault, citing a 2011 White Paper on Transport. The EU wants to phase out all conventionally fueled cars in cities by 2050, and most trucks.

To achieve the potential 2030 goal of a car emitting about 55 g/km of CO2, the equivalent of about 100 mpg using gasoline, electrification alone won’t be enough, Doublet says. “It is achievable only by a combination of reduction of the energy required and electrification.”

Doublet predicts average mass must be cut 30% and aerodynamic and rolling friction reduced along with other onboard electric consumption, while powertrains will need to continue progressing.

“These two directions are very expensive and sometimes contradictory,” he says, noting that hybridization adds weight. “As our customers won’t pay more, we need a breakthrough in technology and the right combination of technologies to make (hybrid-electric) vehicles affordable for our customers.”

Using the Renault Clio as an example, Doublet says that without electrification, a diesel Clio emits 83 g/km and a gasoline version 99. By cutting the weight and other energy requirements and hybridizing the engine, the gas Clio could drop its CO2 emissions to 60 g/km, while turning it into a plug-in hybrid could reduce the CO2 to 30 g/km.

Renault already has gambled €4 billion ($5.2 billion) on developing electric cars, but it intends to meet the 85 g/km goal without counting the contribution of its electric fleet, Doublet says in an earlier presentation to the French government.

The auto maker is working with Valeo and other suppliers to develop mild hybrids using a 48V architecture, says Philippe Bernet, engineer in charge of advance transmissions and electrification. He says using a 48V lead-acid battery to recover energy is not out of the question, as it would be less expensive if one can be developed.

AVL in Austria also is working on low-cost hybridization, says engineer Thomas Pels. The goal is to keep performance high while reducing CO2 emissions, and it believes a 48V hybrid system producing 6kW-8kW is the right size to make a significant contribution to fuel economy.

The German auto industry, headed by three world-class luxury brands, mainly is interested in what 48V can do for additional comfort features such as heated steering wheels and premium audio systems, he says. But once the 48V system is in place, it makes hybridization and energy-saving easier.

Discuss this Article 2

There ought to be an improvement to the hybrid car range to better accommodate to consumers' travelling time. The energy storage in a single hybrid car can be really insufficient to contain that much amount of energy for a single travel time and that may cause a lot of inconveniences. Charging time also takes very long and that is also an inconvenience to consumers.

Hybrid cars are less attractive to consumers mainly because of the electrical energy storage issue of these cars which is often very limited. People can travel over a short distance only before the energy runs out and most are seeing it as an inconvenience rather than an asset, like any other forms of transportation. Major improvements are essential to boost up the hybrid market and increase the trust amongst consumers to reel in profits.

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